Carriage for embossing machine

ABSTRACT

In the environment of a disc embossing machine, employing a rotary shaft to apply cam embossing pressure, a separable and reversible carriage for positioning a card to be embossed. Either cams on the shaft, or levers on the carriage frame, operate a finger-rack escapement for letter spacing. A cross slide for line spacing is registered by a rocking rack-bar and cooperating escapement fingers.

United States Patent Marinoff [54] CARRIAGE FOR EMBOSSING [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 915,749 3/1909 Drewell .....197/84 UX 1,738,950 12/ 1929 Goldenberg 197/82 2,213,572 9/1940 Torkelson ....197/84 2,391,777 12/1945 Gollwitzer .l97/6.6 2,405,786 8/1946 Gollwitzer 1971124 2,450,725 10/1948 Gruver ..l97/l24X [4 1 Mar. 14, 1972 2,605,878 8/1952 Gruver 197/6 2,684,146 7/ 1954 Sagner ..197/63 2,862,595 12/1958 Toggenburger... 197/84 2,919,779 1/1960 Colyer et al. ....l97/6.2 3,116,820 1/1964 Owen ..197/6.7 3,283,872 11/1966 Frechette.. ...197/176 X 3,313,389 4/1967 Cralle 197/82 444,873 III 891 Barron 197/87 464,868 12/1891 l-leam et al. .....l97l85 X 478,925 7/1892 Daugherty .....197/88 X 492,141 2/1893 Copeland ..197/88 X 614,943 11/1898 FOX et a1. ..197/87 X 2,543,509 2/1951 Sandberg ..74/577 X Primary Examiner-Emest T. Wright, Jr. Attorney-Russell L. Root and Ray S. Pyle [57] ABSTRACT In the environment of a disc embossing machine, employing a rotary shaft to apply cam embossing pressure, a separable and reversible carriage for positioning a card to be embossed. Either cams on the shaft, or levers on the carriage frame, operate a finger-rack escapement for letter spacing. A cross slide for line spacing is registered by a rocking rack-bar and cooperating escapement fingers.

4 Claims, 15 Drawing Figures CARRIAGE FOR EMBOSSING MACHINE This invention relates generally to carriages for holding and advancing articles, and more particularly to carriages for holding and advancing articles for embossments in an embossing machine.

The invention is directed to a carriage for mounting flat articles, such as credit cards, address plates or the like, in an embossing machine and to move the article incrementally to emboss several lines of characters thereon. Although the carriage of this invention is not so limited, it is particularly adapted for use in a disc type embossing machine of the type shown in copending application, Ser. No. 784,558 filed Dec. 18, 1968 by Fritz A. Deutsch and entitled Embossing Device.

One of the features of this invention is the provision of a carriage having an article mounting device and actuating mechanism therefore which permits simple, yet accurate line and character spacing of the embossments.

Still another feature of the present invention is the provision of a character spacing mechanism that can be easily adapted for escapement to either the right or the left, depending on whether human readable or printing type characters are being formed.

Still another feature of this invention is the provision of a carriage which can be easily inserted and removed from an embossing machine for cleaning and normal maintenance.

These and other features of the invention, together with a fuller understanding thereof, will become apparent from the following description taken with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view with the cover shown in phantom outline of an embossing machine employing a carriage of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 33 of FIGURE 1;

FIG. 4 is an exploded perspective view of the carriage and operative mechanisms associated therewith;

FIG. 5 is a front perspective view of the carriage;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken substantially along the plane designated by the line 6-6 of FIGURE 3;

FIGS. 7a, 7b and 7c are sequential perspective views of the operation of the escapement mechanism for line spacing;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the tab and space bars and their operative interconnection with the advancing pawls;

FIG. 9 is a bottom perspective view of the biasing of slides operated by the tab bars and spacing bars;

FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c are detailed sequential views of the operation of the pawls and rack and cams for character spacing; and

FIG. 11 is a perspective view of the carriage with the pawls replaced and the rack reversed for opposite direction operation.

Basically, the present invention contemplates a provision of a carriage mechanism and associated operating devices, which carriage mechanism will support a flat article for successive embossments and move the article successively for character spacing and line spacing as required. The carriage mechanism includes an article engaging device adapted to grip the edge of a flat card or the like to be embossed. The gripping device is maintained on a platform, and an escapement mechanism is provided to incrementally advance the platform longitudinally toward and away from an embossing station to provide for line spacing. The platform in turn is mounted for lateral movement, and a second escapement mechanism is provided to cause incremental movement of the platform to thus provide for character spacing after each successive embossment.

A further desirable feature of the carriage mechanism is a design thereof wherein merely by reversing a rack and several biasing springs and slides and replacing a few dogs, the same carriage can operate either in one direction of character spacing to allow human readable type embossments to be made, or operate in the opposite direction to allow printing type embossments to be made.

EMBOSSING MACHINE ENVIRONMENT More specifically, referring now to the drawing, and for the present FIGS. 1 and 2, an embossing machine designated generally as 10 is shown, which incorporates the carriage mechanism, generally designated as 12 of this invention. Although the carriage mechanism 12 is suitable for use in many different types of embossing machines, it is especially adapted for use on the type of machine shown in copending application Ser. No. 784,588, filed Dec. 18, I968 by Fritz A. Deutsch and entitled Embossing Device. A pair of spaced discs 14 and 16 have character die and punch sets 18 and 20, arranged at the ends of radiating fingers thereof. The punch and die sets 18 and 20 are arranged to form character embossments on an article designated generally as The embossing is done by rotating the discs 14 and 16 to arrange the proper character sets' 18 and 20 at an embossing station. The lower disc 16 is then raised vertically until both the punch and die sets 18 and 20 close against opposite sides of the article A. Embossing pressure is then generated by an embossing head 22 squeezing the character 20 against the character 18 with the article A interposed therebetween. The reaction forces from the embossing are carried on a yoke or frame member 24. Closure and embossing pressure is effected by a cam 26 mounted on a rotatable shaft 28. The shaft 28 is rotated by actuating a crank 29 which is connected with the shaft 28 by a link 31. The operation of this embossing mechanism is described in detail in said copending application, and the mechanism for perfonning the embossment per se fonns no part of this invention.

CARRIAGE STRUCTURE AND MOUNTING- Referring now to FIGS. 3 through 5, the carriage structure is shown in detail. As can best be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the carriage structure 12 includes a generally U-shaped support frame 30 having a bottom section 32, a pair of upturned flanges 34 and 35 and a pair of horizontal flanges 36 and 37. The horizontal flanges 36 and 37 are each provided with through bolts 38 and 39, which bolts 38 and 39 are adapted to detachably secure the carriage structure 12 to the embossing machine 10 (See FIGURE 1 Still referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the upturned flange 34 is provided with a pair of apertures 40 and 41, and the upturned flange 35 is provided with a pair of apertures 42 and 43. A mounting rod track 44 extends between the apertures 40 and 42 in the opposite flanges 34 and 35, and a similar mounting rod 46 extends between the apertures 41 and 43 on the opposite flanges 34 and 35. The rods 44 and 46 provide a pair of tracks slidably mounting a platform 48 for reciprocal movement laterally thereon. (The term laterally is used herein denotes a direction generally parallel to a line tangent to the embossing discs 14 and I6, and the term longitudingal denotes a direction generally normal to a tangent to said discs 14 and I6, i.e., radially). The platform 48 is mounted on the bars 44 and 46 by means of a pair of depending lugs 50 and 52 which mount on the bar 44 and a second pair of depending lugs 54 (shown in FIG. 3) and 56 which mount on the bar 46.

See FIG. 4. The platform 48 is provided with a front upturned flange 58 and a rear upturned flange 60. A first pair of aligned holes 62 and 64 are provided respectively in the front and rear flanges 58 and 60 at one side thereof, and a second pair of aligned holes 66 and 68 are provided respectively in the front and rear flanges'58 and 60 on the opposite sides thereof. A first rod 70 extends between the holes 62 and 64, and a second rod 72 extends between the holes 66 and 68. The rods 70 and 72 serve to mount a slidable dolly structure generally designated as 74 for longitudinal movement reciprocally thereon. The dolly 74 includes a slide member 75 having a first pair of lugs 76 and 78 (see FIGS. 3) depending therefrom, slidably mounted on rod 70, and a second pair of lugs 80and 82 depending therefrom slidably mounted on rod 72.

The slide member 75 has secured to the upper portion thereof a mounting plate 84 to which is mounted an article holding device 86. The article holding device 86 includes an anchor plate 88 which journals at one end thereof a shaft 90. The shaft 90 mounts a pair of grippingjaws 92 and 94, which gripping jaws 92 and 94 are adapted to grip a flat article to be embossed. The operation of this type of gripping jaw is shown and described in US. Pat. No. 2,999,577 dated Sept. 12, 1966. This type of gripping jaw is operable by a handle 96 secured to the shaft 90 which which rotates the jaws 92 and 94 between a rearward position for loading the card A and a frontward position for mounting the card A in embossing position. The gripping jaws 92 and 94 are so constructed, and spring biasing means are provided, so that when the handle 96 is operated to rotate the jaws 92 and 94 to the rearward position, the force of the biasing springs are overcome allowing the jaws 92 and 94 to be slightly open. The edge of the card, or other article A to be embossed, is then inserted between the jaws 92 and 94, pressure is released from the handle 96, and the spring biasing means then cause the jaws 92 and 94 to spring back together securely gripping the edge of the article A.

The rotation of the handle 96 from this rearward position will then flip the article A over and position it on the plane in which the embossing is to take place, as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3.

LINE SPACING ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM In order to incrementally move the article A into embossing position, and to provide for line spacing, a first escapement mechanism is provided to allow incremental longitudinal movement. The first escapement mechanism, as can best be seen in FIGS. 3 through 5, includes a shaft 100 journaled in apertures 102 and 104 formed in the flanges 58 and 60 respectively of the platform 48. The shaft 100 is generally triangular in shape and has a row of teeth 106 formed on the top thereof. The teeth 106 have vertical rear faces and sloping front faces (as used herein front refers to the direction toward the embossing apparatus, and rearward is the direction away from the embossing apparatus). A handle 108 is secured to the end of the shaft 100 and is operable to oscillate or rock the shaft 100 back and forth.

As shown in FIG. 1, the handle 108 is provided with a projecting pin 110. A spring 112 engages pin 110 and one or the other of posts 114 or 116. The posts 114 and 116 are mounted on the flange 58 of platform 48 on opposite sides of the handle 108. The post 114, 116 with which the opposite end of the spring 112 is engaged will depend on whether the carriage mechanism 12 is going to be used to normally move from left to right or right to left, which in turn depends on whether the device is to be used for human readable embossments or printing type embossments and the arrangement of the discs 14 and 16, as will be discussed presently. As shown, the spring 112 is secured to the post 114 and this is the arrangement when the carriage mechanism 12 is to be returned from left to right as seen in FIG. 1.

Referring again to FIGS. 3 through 6, the shaft 100 extends under the slide 75 and is adapted to cooperate with a pair of detents 117 and 118 (see FIG. 7A-7C) formed on a bracket 119 mounted on the top of slide 75. The detents 117 and 118 depend through an aperture (unnumbered) in the slide 75. The bracket 119 is biased downwardly into contact with the slide 75 by a spring 120 extending between mounting plate 84 and bracket 119. The spring 120 surrounds a guide pin 121 extending upwardly from the bracket 119 into an aperture (unnumbered) in the mounting plate 84. Sec FIG. 6. The detents I17 and 118 are both laterally spaced and longitudinally spaced with respect to each other so that, in cooperation with the teeth 106, incremental advance of the slide 75 can be accomplished.

The slide 75 is normally biased forwardly in the direction toward the machine by means ofa pair of springs 122 and 124.

The line spacing escapement mechanism operates by oscillation of the bar 100 as follow. The spring 112 normally biases the handle 108 in a clockwise direction, as viewed in FIG. 6. This would be counterclockwise as viewed by the operator. Detent 117 is biased into engagement with one of the teeth 106 (which, for convenience, will be designated as 106a, see FIG. 7a), and springs 122 and 124 bias the detent 117 into contact with the vertical rear surface of the tooth 106a. In order to move the slide member forward, the handle 108 is rotated clockwise as viewed by the operator against the bias of spring 112, and then released. The efiect of this motion is shown in sequential steps in FIGS. 7a, 7b and 7c. In FIG. 7a the detent 117 is shown being biased into engagement with tooth 106a. When the handle 108 is rotated against the bias of spring 112, the shaft is rotated in the direction shown by the arrow in FIG. 7b to the position shown therein. During this movement, the detent 117 is disengaged from the rear surface of tooth 106a. When the disengagement takes place, the springs 122 and 124 move the slide 75 forward toward the embossing station. However, as the shaft 100 moves to disengage detent 117, the detent 118 is aligned with the tooth 1060 that the detent 117 has just disengaged. The axial spacing (i.e., along the axis of bar 100) of the detents I17 and 118 is less than spacing of the teeth 106. Hence, the bias of spring 122 and 124 will move the slide 75 until detent 118 engages the rear surface of tooth 106a. This will position the detent 117 in front (as measured axially along bar 100) of tooth 10611, but rearwardly of the vertical surface of the next tooth 10611. Release of the handle 108 will cause the spring 112 to return the handle 108 to its original position rotating the shaft 100 oppositely as shown by the arrow in FIG. 7 c to the position shown therein. When this rotation takes place, the detent 118 is released from engagement with the tooth 106a. The springs 122 and 124 will move the slide 75 forwardly until the detent 117 strikes the rear face of tooth l06b which is an advance of one tooth. Hence, one complete oscillation of the bar 100 will advance the slide 75 one tooth. This tooth spacing is selected to be equal to the desired line spacing on the article A to be embossed.

To return the slide 75 rearwardly, the slide 75 is merely grasped and pulled. The angle formed by the front of teeth 106 and the bias mounting by spring allows the detents 117 and 118 to override the teeth 106 during this rearward movement.

CHARACTER SPACING ESCAPEMENT MECHANISM A second escapement mechanism is provided which is adapted to allow the platform 48 to move laterally incrementally for character spacing. The character spacing escapement mechanism will be described as it is adapted to move the platform 48 incrementally from left to right as viewed in FIG. 1.

As can best be seen in FIGS. 4 and 5, the second escapement includes a laterally extending rack 126 mounted in a pair of slots or openings 128 and 130 formed in the platform 48. The ends of the rack 126 are retained in the openings 128 and 130 by means of cotter pins 132 and 134 which are removable so that the rack 126 can be removed and reversed for operation of the character spacing mechanism in the opposite direction. The rack 126 is provided with a series of teeth 136 which have vertical engagements surfaces on one side and angled override surfaces on the other side. These teeth 136 are operably associated with a set of pawls designated generally as 138.

The pawls 138 include an upper pawl 140, a middle pawl 142, and lower pawl 144. These pawls 140, 142 and 144 are provided with central apertures (unnumbered) which pivotally mount them for independent pivotal movement on a post 146. The post 146 is mounted on a tab 148 extending from the lower section 32 of the support frame 30. A second tab 150 is also provided which is adapted to mount pawls 140, 142 and 144 for opposite direction movement of the platform 48. The upper pawl is provided with an actuating projection 152, and the middle pawl 142 is provided with a similar actuating projection 154. The projection 154 extends farther laterally than the projection 152. Pawl 144 has a downwardly projecting pin 155. Each of the pawls 140, 142 and 144 has teeth engaging tips 156, 158 and 160 respectively. The pawls 140, 142 and 144 are independently selectively operable by a mechanism now to be described to move the teeth engaging tips 156, 158 and 160 into and out of engagement with the teeth 136 of the rack 126 to provide incremental movement.

A flat spring member 162 is mounted on the post 146. The spring 162 has three finger extensions 164, 166 and 168 which respectively abut against the pawls 140, 142 and 144, normally biasing the teeth engaging tips 156, 158 and 160 thereof into contact with the teeth 136 of the rack 126.

When the carriage mechanism 12 is in the machine, the pawls 140 and 142 are operable respectively by cams 169 and 170 carried by shaft 28 and rotatable therewith (See FIGS. 1 and 3). The cam 169 bears against projection 152 of pawl 140 and cam 170 bears against projection 154 of pawl 142. Each of the cams 169 and 170 is provided with a high portion which, when it comes in contact with its respective projection 152 or 154, will pivot the respective pawl 140 and 142 to move the teeth engaging tip 156 and 158 thereof out of engagement with the teeth 136. Each cam 169 and 170 also has a low portion which, when engaging the projection 152 and 154 on its respective pawl 140 and 142, will permit the spring finger 164 or 166 to bias the teeth engaging tip 156 and 158 of its respective pawl 140 and 142 into engagement with the teeth 136.

Referring to FIGURES 4, 5, 8 and 9, the pawl 142 is also operable by a slide member 172 which is slidably mounted on the lower section 32 of the support frame 30. Slide member 172 has an upwardly projecting post 174 arranged to abut the extension 154 of pawl 142. As can best be seen in FIG. 9, the slide member 172 is guided on the support frame 30 by a depending pin 176 extending through slot 178 formed in the lower section 32. A spring 180 is interposed between pin 176 and a pin 182 depending from the lower section 32 which spring 180 normally biases the slide member 172 forwardly to urge the post 174 out of engagement with the pawl 142, and hence allow engagement of tip 158 with rack teeth 136.

The lower pawl 144 is operable by a second slide member 184, slidably mounted on the lower section 32 of the frame 30. Again, as can best be seen in FIG. 9, the slide member 184 is guided by a pin 186 projecting through a slot 188 formed in the frame 30. A spring 190 is interposed between the pin 186 and a pin 192 depending from the lower section 32 of the frame 30. Spring 190 normally biases the end of the slide member 184 against a post 155 depending from the pawl 144. This normally urges the teeth engaging tip 160 of the lower pawl 144 out of engagement with the teeth 136, against the bias of spring finger 168.

Referring now to FIGS. 5 and 8, a generally U-shaped spacer bar 194 is provided to operate the slides 172 and 184. The spacer bar 194 is pivotally mounted on the rod 46 and has an upwardly extending arm 196 at one end thereof, provided with an operating handle 198. The spacer bar 194 is disposed to operate against an upwardly tu'rned leg 200 of the slide member 172 and against an upwardly turned leg 202 of slide member 184. Pivotal movement of the bar 194 will cause the rearwardly sliding movement of both slide members 172 and 184 against the bias of the respective springs 180 and 190.

Still referring to FIGS. 5 and 8, a U-shaped tab bar 204 is also provided, but this operates the slide member 172 only. The tab bar 204 is pivotally mounted on the bar 46 and has an upwardly extending arm 206 having thereon a handle 208. In order to prevent the operation of the slide 184 by the tab bar 204, a slot 210 is formed therein. This allows pivotal movement of the bar 204 to operate against the upturned leg 200 of the slide member 172, but prevents it operating against the upturned leg 202 of the slide member 184.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 3 and 5, a platform biasing spring 212 is provided which, by proper arrangement, is

adapted to bias the platform 48 either to the left or to the right, depending on whether printing type or human readable type embossments are to be performed. As shown, the spring 212 is arranged to move the platform 48 to the left as viewed in FIG. 5 which is from the operators right to left in FIG. 1. One end of the spring 212 is secured to a pin 214 which is carried by a stanchion 216, extending upwardly from the lower section 32 of the frame 30. The spring 212 is then reeved around a roller 218, mounted on a pin 220 on a second stanchion 222 at the opposite end of the lower section 32. The opposite end of this spring 212 is then secured to the platform 48.

The operation of the escapement mechanism for the line spacing with the carriage mechanism 12 in the machine is as follows, and can be followed in the diagrammatic representation of FIGURES 10a, 10b and 100. In these figures, the normal bias direction of the pawls and 142 and platform carrying the rack 126 is shown by arrows.

The slide member 184 is biased to the position where it maintains the tip of the pawl 144 out of engagement with the teeth 136. The cam 169 is positioned with its high spot against the projection 152 of the pawl 140, thus holding the tip 156 thereof out of engagement with the teeth 136. The cam is positioned with its low portion adjacent the projection 154 on the middle pawl 142, thus allowing the tip 158 thereof to be biased into engagement with the teeth 136 by means of the finger 166 of spring 162. The platform biasing spring 212 normally urges the carriage mechanism 12 to the left as viewed in FIG. 5 which urges the vertical portion of one of the teeth 136a into engagement with the teeth engaging tip 158 of the middle pawl 142. This condition is represented diagrammati cally in FIG. 10a. (In FIGS. 10a, 10b and 10c, the pawl 144 is maintained out of engagement with the teeth 136 at all times so this pawl 144 is not shown). The engagement of the pawl 144 with the teeth 136 prevents movement of the carriage mechanism 12.

When an embossment is made, the shaft 28 is either rotated one full revolution or oscillated from and returned to the atrest position. When this rotation or oscillation takes place, the cams 169 and 170 also rotate or oscillate. The cams 169 and 170 are so arranged that, first the low spot of the cam 169 encounters the projection 152 on the upper pawl 140, which then permits the finger 164 of spring 162 to bias the tip 156 thereof into contact with the teeth 136. The lateral spacing of the teeth engaging tips 156 and 158 is less than the distance between the teeth 136 so that the teeth 136 engaging tip 156 falls into the groove between the teeth which is occupied by the tip 158 of the middle pawl 142. The continued rotation of shaft 28 will next move the high portion of the cam 170 into contact with the projection 154 on middle pawl 142, which will cause it to pivot the teeth engaging tip 158 thereof out of engagement with the teeth 136. The bias of the spring 212 will then cause the platform 48 to slide to the left as viewed in FIG. 100, until the flat edge of tooth 136a comes in contact with the teeth engaging portion 156 of the upper pawl 140. This position is shown in FIG. 10b. This completes the half cycle movement, and the second half cycle is accomplished by the continued rotation of the shaft 28, or by reverse oscillation back to its original position. Continued rotation or oscillation back to the original position of this shaft 28 will then cause the low spot on cam 170 to come into contact with projection 154 of the middle pawl 142. The urging of spring finger 164 against the pawl 142 will cause it to pivot, moving the teeth engaging tip 158 thereof into the groove between tooth 136a and the next successive tooth 136b. Continued rotation or oscillation will then move the high portion of the cam 169 into contact with projection 152 on the top pawl 140, moving it against the bias of spring finger 164 out of contact with the flat face of tooth 13611. The spring 212 will then urge the platform 48 to the left as seen in FIG. 10b until the teeth engaging tip 158 of the middle pawl 142 comes in contact with the flat surface of the tooth 136b. This position is shown in FIG. 100. Although not bearing directly upon the teaching of construction of the preferred embodiment, it should be noted that the described two steps of spacing are not accomplished in one sequence of movement. After an embossment, as cam 26 is rotated to release position, the carriage mechanism 12 is advanced onehalf of an increment by the engagement of tip 156 and withdrawal of tip 158. This condition prevails until the next embossure is ready. Then as the shaft 28 is rotated to produce the next pressure cycle, the position of the tips 156 and 158 are reversed to complete the spacing prior to actual pressure contact of the disc members 14 and 16.

The embossment operation has thus taken one complete cycle, and during this cycle the platform 48 has been advanced the distance of one tooth spacing, and the machine is in position to commence the next embossment. Hence, each time an embossment operation is performed, the platform 48 is advanced one space readying it for the next character impression.

In order to provide for spacings without the embossment operation taking place, the handle 198 of the spacer bar 194 is pushed forward and released. When this happens, the spacer bar 194 pushes both the slide members 172 and 184 rearwardly against the bias of their respective springs 180 and 190 (See FIG. 9). This rearward movement during the initial pushing first moves the end of slide member 184 out of contact with the pin 155 depending from pawl 144 which allows the finger 168 of the spring 162 to push the teeth engaging tip 160 of the lower pawl 144 into engagement with the teeth 136. The tip 160 of pawl 144 is substantially vertical in alignment with the tip 156 of pawl 140. Hence, the operation of the pawl 144 is similar in function to the operation of pawl 140 during character spacing. Therefore, the functional operation of the pawl 144 can be followed on the diagrammatic drawings shown in FIGS. a, 10b and 100 by following the operation of pawl 140, it being understood that the operation is not caused by the cams 169 and 170 but by the slides 172 and 184. To make this easier to follow, the corresponding reference characters to pawl 140 are noted in parenthesis.

.The teeth engaging tip 160 (156) of the pawl 144 (140) is slightly laterally offset respective to the teeth engaging tip 158 of the middle pawl 142, but a distance less than one tooth spacing.

The rearward movement of the slide member 172 causes the post 174 thereon to strike the middle pawl 142 causing it to pivot to move the teeth engaging tip 158 thereof out of engagement with the teeth 136. Hence, when the middle pawl 142 is pivoted to move the teeth engaging tip 156 thereof out of engagement with the teeth 136, the bias of the spring 212 will cause the platform 48 to slide to the left until the vertical front surface of the tooth 136a, which had been engaged by the tooth engaging tip 158 of the middle pawl 142, comes in contact with the teeth engaging tip 160 (156) of the lower pawl 144 (140).

When the handle 198 is released, the springs 180 and 190 will cause the slide member 172 and 184 to slide forwardly. This forward sliding of the slide member 172 will move the post 174 thereof out of contact with the pawl 142. This then allows the finger 166 of the spring 162 to pivot the teeth engaging tip 158 of the middle pawl 142 into engagement with the teeth 136. This engagement will be between the tooth 136a and the next successive tooth l36b.

The movement of the slide member 184 forwardly will cause it to strike post 155, depending from the bottom pawl 144, and push it against the bias of the finger 168 of the spring 162 out of contact with the teeth 136. This will move the teeth engaging tip 160 (156) thereof out of contact with the surface of teeth 136a. The bias of spring 212 will then cause the flat surface of teeth 136!) to come against the tip 158.

Hence, movement of the space bar 194 forward and back will cause an incremental advancement of the platform 48 a distance equal to the distance between two teeth. Thus, a

space can be provided between letters without performing an embossing operation.

The tab bar 204 can be actuated to release the escapement mechanism and allow the platform 48 to be moved to the fullest extent and not incremental. When the handle 208 is pressed, it operates only the slide member 172, and it will not actuate the slide member 184, since the slot 210 prevents the tab bar 204 from striking the leg 202 on the slide 184. The movement of the slide member 172 rearwardly, as described above, will cause the middle pawl 142 to pivot its teeth engaging tip 158 out of engagement with the teeth 136. Since the upper pawl is maintained with its teeth engaging tip 156 out of engagement with the teeth 136 by means of the cam 169, and since the lower pawl 144 is maintained with its teeth engaging tip out of engagement with the teeth 136 by the slide member 184, the release of the teeth engaging tip 158 from the teeth 136 will result in all pawls 140, 142 and 144 being out of contact with the teeth 136 and thus allow the spring 212 to move the platform 48 freely and not incrementally.

In order to provide for margin settings, a pair of generally C- shaped clamp members 226 and 228 are provided which are mounted on the rod 44 on opposite sides of the platform 48 (FIGS. 1 and 4). The clamps 226 and 228 are provided with release screws 230 and 232 respectively. These clamps 226 and 228 will set the limit of travel of the platform 48 in both directions. Hence, a left margin and a right margin can be set by merely releasing the screws 230 and 232, moving the clamps 226 and 228 to the desired setting, and tightening the screws 230 and 232 again.

Once the end of the line has been reached, the platfonn 48 is returned to its starting position by pushing handle 108 in a direction against the bias of spring 112. Since the teeth 136 have angled surfaces, the platform 48 can move back with the pawls 140, 142 and 144 over-riding the teeth 136. Also, the pushing and releasing of the handle 108 will cause the line escapement mechanism to advance the article A one line further into the machine as described above.

REVERSAL OF CHARACTER SPACING DIRECTION As was indicated above, it is sometimes desirable to have the platform 48 move from left to right rather than from right to left (as seen in FIG. 5). To accomplish this, a few of the parts are reversed, and one set of parts is replaced. This reversal and replacement can be quite simple accomplished. The reversed and modified parts are shown somewhat schematically in FIG. 11. In this figure, the roller 218 is mounted on the pin 214 of stanchion 216. The end of the spring 212 is secured to the pin 220 and reeved around the roller 218 and secured to the other end of the platform 48. The rack 126 has been turned end-for-end so that the straight surfaces of the teeth 136 are directed to the right and the inclined surfaces to the left. A set of pawls 138 is provided which includes three pawls 140', 142' and 144', which are in all respects mirror images of the pawls 140, 142 and 144. The set of pawls 138' is mounted on post 146 secured in the tab 150. The spring 162 has been turned over and is the same spring as is utilized for the other direction of operation.

The slide members 172 and 184 have been moved to the opposite side of the bottom section 32 of the support frame 30. The pins 176 and 186 depend through slots 178' and 188 (FIG. 4) respectively, and the springs and 190 are connected between their respective pins 176 and 186 and depending pins not shown, but which correspond to pins 182 and 192 respectively. The cams 169 and 170 have been moved on the shaft 28 to the proper alignment with the set .of pawls 138'. The spring 112 is moved from part 114 to 116, and the device is then ready for operation in the opposite direction.

What is claimed is:

1. In an embossing machine including an embossing mechanism for forming embossed characters on a flat article, an improved carriage structure comprising, means mounting said carriage structure on said machine, said carriage structure including article positioning means to mount an article in a given plane for embossments to be performed thereon, first track means mounting said article positioning means for reciprocal movement to move said article on a first path coplanar with said given plane, second track means mounting said article positioning means for movement toward and away from an initial position to move said article on a second path coplanar with said given plane and normal to said first path, first escapement means disposed to selectively effect incremental movement of said article positioning means in one direction along said first path and allow return movement in the opposite direction, said first escapement means including a shaft, means mounting said shaft for oscillation about its longitudinal axis, said shaft having teeth formed thereon, detent means carried by said article positioning means operably associated with said teeth, said detent means being positioned to engage and disengage said teeth upon oscillation of said shaft about its longitudinal axis, second escapement means disposed to selectively effect incremental movement of said article positioning means along said second path in a direction away from said initial position and to enable return movement of said article positioning means in the opposite direction toward said initial position, said second escapement means including means actuatable by said embossing mechanism to move said article positioning means an increment along said second path in'a direction away from said initial position upon each actuation of said second escapement means, manually operable actuator means for returning said article positioning means along said second path in the direction toward said initial position and for contemporaneously therewith operating said first escapement means to move said article positioning means through an incremental distance along said first path, said actuator means including a single manually engageable member, means connecting said single manually engageable member with said article positioning means for transmitting translational movement from said single manually engageable member to said article positioning means to effect movement of said article positioning means along said second path in a direction toward said initial position, and means connecting said single manually engageable member with said shaft for transmitting rotational movement from said single manually engageable member to said shaft to effect rotation of said shaft about its longitudinal axis and operation of said first escapement means contemporaneously with movement of said article positioning means along said second path.

2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said detent means includes first and second detents, said detents being laterally and longitudinally spaced with respect to each other, said longitudinal spacing being less than the spacing of the teeth on said shaft, said lateral spacing of said first and second detents being such that said teeth on said shaft are moved between a position engaging said first detent and a position engaging said second detent upon oscillation of said shaft about its longitudinal axis.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein said teeth have straight rear surfaces and sloping front surfaces, and wherein said detent means are yieldingly mounted to override the sloped surface, thereby allowing the detents to override the teeth for return movement.

4. The invention as defined in claim 1 further characterized by said second escapement means including rack means, biasing means normally urging said article positioning means in one direction on said second path, means to selectively position said biasing means for urging said article positioning means in either direction, and means mounting said rack means to enable operation of said article positioning means in either direction. 

1. In an embossing machine including an embossing mechanism for forming embossed characters on a flat article, an improved carriage structure comprising, means mounting said carriage structure on said machine, said carriage structure including article positioning means to mount an article in a given plane for embossments to be performed thereon, first track means mounting said article positioning means for reciprocal movement to move said article on a first path coplaner with said given plane, second track means mounting said article positioning means for movement toward and away from an initial position to move said article on a second path coplaner with said given plane and normal to said first path, first escapement means disposed to selectively effect incremental movement of said article positioning means in one direction along said first path and allow return movement in the opposite direction, said first escapement means including a shaft, means mounting said shaft for oscillation about its longitudinal axis, said shaft having teeth formed thereon, detent means carried by said article positioning means operably associated with said teeth, said detent means being positIoned to engage and disengage said teeth upon oscillation of said shaft about its longitudinal axis, second escapement means disposed to selectively effect incremental movement of said article positioning means along said second path in a direction away from said initial position and to enable return movement of said article positioning means in the opposite direction toward said initial position, said second escapement means including means actuatable by said embossing mechanism to move said article positioning means an increment along said second path in a direction away from said initial position upon each actuation of said second escapement means, manually operable actuator means for returning said article positioning means along said second path in the direction toward said initial position and for contemporaneously therewith operating said first escapement means to move said article positioning means through an incremental distance along said first path, said actuator means including a single manually engageable member, means connecting said single manually engageable member with said article positioning means for transmitting translational movement from said single manually engageable member to said article positioning means to effect movement of said article positioning means along said second path in a direction toward said initial position, and means connecting said single manually engageable member with said shaft for transmitting rotational movement from said single manually engageable member to said shaft to effect rotation of said shaft about its longitudinal axis and operation of said first escapement means contemporaneously with movement of said article positioning means along said second path.
 2. The invention as defined in claim 1, wherein said detent means includes first and second detents, said detents being laterally and longitudinally spaced with respect to each other, said longitudinal spacing being less than the spacing of the teeth on said shaft, said lateral spacing of said first and second detents being such that said teeth on said shaft are moved between a position engaging said first detent and a position engaging said second detent upon oscillation of said shaft about its longitudinal axis.
 3. The invention as defined in claim 2, wherein said teeth have straight rear surfaces and sloping front surfaces, and wherein said detent means are yieldingly mounted to over-ride the sloped surface, thereby allowing the detents to over-ride the teeth for return movement.
 4. The invention as defined in claim 1 further characterized by said second escapement means including rack means, biasing means normally urging said article positioning means in one direction on said second path, means to selectively position said biasing means for urging said article positioning means in either direction, and means mounting said rack means to enable operation of said article positioning means in either direction. 